2004
German Critics Award for Crime Fiction and
Winner of 2007 Premier Special Director Book Award Semana
Negra, Spain
“The story is fast-paced and entertaining. Even outside
of his Bangkok comfort zone, Moore shows he is one of the
best chroniclers of the expat diaspora.”
—The Daily Yomiuri
“Zero
Hour in Phnom Penh is political, courageous and perhaps [Moore’s]
most important work.
Moore is a brilliant storyteller and a masterful character
inventor.”
—CrimiCouch.de
“Zero
Hour in Phnom Penh is a brilliant detective story that portrays—with
no illusion—Cambodia’s adventurous transition
from genocide and civil war to a free-market economy and democratic
normality. Zero Hour in Phnom Penh is a rare stroke of luck
and a work of art,
from which one can always draw more stories and levels of
meaning. . . . an all too human, timeless, historical and
philosophical novel.”
—Deutsche Well Buchtipp, Bonn
“A
thriller in which the importance of the single crime shrinks
visibly at the sight of mass murder and grand corruption.”
—Thomas Klingenmaier, Stuttgarter Zeitung
“It
was ten years ago in Cambodia, but this great novel sits well
after Kandahar, Luanda, Kabul, Baghdad and other places where
the brutality of war destroys the souls of humanity.”
—KulturNews, Hamburg
“[In
Zero Hour in Phnom Penh] one experiences an impressive novel
and discovers lives
in a country—keyword ‘Pol Pot—that has a
long history of genocide behind it. A novel of sad intelligence
and intelligent sadness”
—Thomas Widmer, Facts Zürich
“Moore
is an accurate storyteller and a sensitive observer. He bares
the colonial attitude of the foreigners and soberly describes
the survival strategies of the young women—imparting
a great amount of information and a valuable insight.”
—Marianne de Mestral, P.S. Magazin, Zürich
“The
novel is more than a crime fiction. It is a believable attempt
to describe a society at the crossroad. Moore’s portrayal
of the omnipresent prostitution in Cambodia goes under the
skin. Nothing is glossed over.”
—Christian Ruf, Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten
“Zero
Hour in Phnom Penh is a bursting, high adventure . . . extremely
gripping . . . a morality portrait with no illusion.”
—Ulrich Noller, Westdeutscher Rundfunk
“A
well written, exciting, but not simplistic thriller. The description
of Cambodia at the end of the Pol Pot terror regime (approximately
1993) is convincing. High tension amidst violent backdrop.
Recommended. ”
—Ute Ulrike Fauth, EKZ Buchbesprechungen Reutlingen
“Moore’s
crime fiction is a multi-layered and disillusioning picture
of the Cambodian society and the UNTAC soldiers: the reality
behind the headlines.”
—Inge Wünnenberg, General-Anzeiger, Bonn
“Like
other Calvino novels, Zero Hour in Phnom Penh captures the
tropical sultriness that often sucks away the breaths of West
Germans in Southeast Asia. Heat, noise and stench almost emanate
from the book.. Moore heats up the climate even further with
his portrayals of raw power, cheap sex, wretchedness from
drugs and human contempt. It can be stomach-turning for the
delicate of the hearts.”
—Sönke Boldt, Badische Neueste Nachrichten
Karlsruhe
“Moore
writes to entertain, and that he does.”
—Bangkok Post
Phnom
Penh - UNTAC peacekeeping forces maintain fragile peace in Cambodia.
Gun running, smuggling, illegal logging, robbery, and prostitution,
are all life. Corruption is everywhere, life is cheap. And the
sound of gunfire erupts nightly from illegal checkpoints. 